The Association of British Insurers (ABI) has expressed dismay at the government’s plans to replace the Air Travel Organisers’ Licensing (ATOL) protection scheme with a £1 levy on holidays. ATOL is a scheme set up to protect consumers in the event of their tour operator ceasing to trade. It is administered by the Civil Aviation [...]
Insurance lead broker Call Connection has today addressed its intentions to team up with a leading insurance provider within the niche over 80s insurance market, to capitalise on the UK’s aging population and a lack of adequate cover in the marketplace at present. Call Connection currently trades in customer leads for insurance companies, buying and [...]
Insurance company Novae have today announced the appointment of a former AIG executive to its post as head of Scotland and Northern Ireland regions, as part of its ongoing strategy of corporate development outwith its core business markets. The company has today announced former AIG man John Gibson as its new head for regional development [...]
Oval, which is backed by Caledonia Investments plc, has announced its results for the year ending 31st May, 2007. Group revenues went up from £47m to £60m, a rise of 27% and the firm’s insurance broking division expanded its gross written premium to over £250m. Oval’s Financial Services division has more than £3 billion under [...]
A new website has been launched by Heath Lambert, making specialist travel insurance available for brokers for people with pre-existing medical conditions. The specialist scheme has been designed to make it easy for brokers to get cover for clients who are either older or have pre-existing medical conditions. A simple website has been built under [...]
Samaritans, Coram and FARM-Africa have been named by Lloyd’s as its partner charities from 2007 to 2010, with each charity receiving £150,000 over that time period from Lloyd’s Charities Trust (LCT). The Samaritans project “Skills for Life”, which supports young people dealing with emotional and/or mental health issues, will be one beneficiary of the LCT’s [...]
Libero Ventures, a subsidiary of Lehman Brothers, is to start trading following the FSA granting it authorisation. Central to Libero Ventures is the tool Reinsurance Financing, which enables insurers to increase their overall return on capital and is suitable for single class, multi-class and whole accounts portfolios. According to Lehman Brothers, insurers using Reinsurance Financing [...]
The Financial Ombudsman Service is warning motorists that the insurance industry is currently rejecting thousand of claims because of a form of fraud known in the industry as “fronting”. A common example of “fronting” would be when a young driver has a car but falsely informs his or her insurance company that a parent is [...]
This week, Standard Life and Swiss Re, the closed life funds consolidator, are expected to make a £5 billion takeover bid for Resolution, the largest specialist manager of in force UK life funds. Resolution is currently negotiating a merger with Friends Provident but Pearl Group, its largest shareholder, is opposed to the move. The Standard [...]
Endurance Worldwide Reinsurance has today announced it has appointed Patrick Aeschbacher as head of reinsurance in its emerging Asian and Australian markets, in a role it is hoped will see him bring decades of experience in the industry together with a charismatic approach to management. The appointment was announced today by parent company Endurance Specialty [...]
Leading insurer Direct Line has today announced two further product lines within its new commercial product catalogue, which has seen it move from an exclusively consumer-driven insurer into more lucrative commercial markets, mainly at the small to medium business niche. The announcement today saw the launch of the commercial property and shop cover products, which [...]
Insurer Willis has today unveiled a new tool deigned to help provide support to decision makers in customised directors’ and officers’ liability cover policies, in light of the sweeping legislative changes in relation to directors responsibilities and duties. The tool has been branded WISDOM (Willis Integrated Solutions Directors and Officers Model, and is designed to [...]
A new education project created to improve supervisors’ knowledge of regulation and supervision has been announced by the International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS). Emerging markets will be the focus for the IAIS, which is seeking to harmonise supervisory regimes for insurance and increase the stability of financial services. The educational project will be delivered [...]
Nick Metcalf has been newly appointed as Liberty Syndicate Management Limited’s new chief executive. Liberty Syndicates has a capacity of £917m and five specialist business lines, which include London market reinsurance, property and casualty. Metcalf’s previous position was with Arch Insurance Group, where he had been director of European operations since 2004. Metcalf has stated [...]
Brit Insurance’s hull underwriter, Simon Stonehouse, has been elected chairman of the Joint Hull Committee (JHC), which represents the London underwriters for marine hull issues. Stonehouse will replace the senior underwriter of Ark Syndicate Management Limited, Peter McIntosh, who is stepping down from the position for chairman after three years in the role, though he [...]
Willis has launched a proprietary analytical tool named WISDOM (Willis Integrated Solutions D&O Model), designed to aid clients creating D&O insurance programs. WISDOM will provide both data and analysis that is more quantitative, compared to more usual benchmarking, and tailored to specific clients. Audit Integrity and Advisen, leading research organisations, assisted on WISDOM’s development. WISDOM [...]
Moneysupermarket.com, the price comparison website, has been looking at how a person’s profession can affect their motor insurance premium. It would appear that doctors, accountants and insurance inspectors are among the UK’s most accident-prone drivers, while actors, wine merchants and antique dealers are some of the safest. In the case of doctors and surgeons, premiums [...]
Allianz is launching a new UK business in November, aimed at providing assistance for small businesses involved in legal disputes. The insurer will be the first mainstream provider to join the UK market for third-party litigation. This market has traditionally been dominated by specialist firms that offer to pay legal fees, in return for a [...]
The future chairman of the London Market Reform Group has been revealed as Stephen Matanle, currently Marsh’s Global Placement Leader and chairman of the London Market Insurance Brokers’ Committee. Dane Douetil, the incumbent and CEO of Brit Insurance, will hand over to Matanle at the end of 2007. Douetil announced to the Insurance Institute of [...]
The Association of British Insurers (ABI) has published its latest research into general insurance fraud, showing a sharp increase in the number of cases. According to the ABI, one in 11 claims submitted is false, a figure threefold that of 2003. Household insurance claims account for over half of this kind of fraud with incidents [...]
